The Eric Staal era in Carolina is over. The Hurricanes have dealt captain Eric Staal to the New York Rangers for prospect Aleksi Saarela and two 2nd round draft picks (both NYR's in 2016 and 2017).
The deal sees Staal, the captain and franchise player since their only Stanley Cup win in 2006, head to the Big Apple to join his brother Marc with the Rangers, who managed to add a star player to their lineup without losing anyone on their current roster.
The Canes will reportedly also cover the full maximum of 50% of his remaining contract to fit it underneath New York's salary cap.
Saarela, 19, was drafted 89th overall by New York in the 2015 Entry Draft. Small at 5'11", he makes up for it with skill and playmaking ability as evidenced by his recent World Junior Championship run (7 games, 4-3-7). He has 18 goals in 46 games with Assat of the Finnish Elite League this year and projects as a possible top-six forward who can play center and wing.
Carolina now has six draft picks in the first three rounds of the 2016 Entry Draft.
Round 1: CAR, LAK
Round 2: CAR, NYR
Round 3: CAR, WPG
Source: Pro Sports Transactions
There is no immediate word as to who will be replacing Staal in the lineup for today's matchup against St. Louis. The Canes sport 19 healthy players at present with Justin Faulk, Andrej Nestrasil, and Jay McClement (as well as James Wisniewski) all out of the lineup. Heading into this afternoon, Bill Peters reported that they were going with the same lineup as they did against Boston on Friday.
Cam Ward will get the start in net.
??? - Rask - Lindholm
Nordstrom - JStaal - Terry
Skinner - Nash - Versteeg
Gerbe - Malone - Di Giuseppe
Slavin - Hainsey
Liles - Pesce
Hanifin - Jordan
Ward
Lack
Obviously there will be more updates to come. Carolina still has other pending UFA's that could be of interest to teams leading up to tomorrow's 3pm EST trade deadline.